Substantially double-shell helmet

ABSTRACT

A protective helmet which comprises a substantially double-shell including a cap, a bumper ring, visor and a space defined by the cap and the ring, and which is capable of substantially protecting the driver or the racer of motorcycle, car, or motorboat against skull fracture when the helmet is subjected to impact.

Umted States Patent 1191 1111 3,723,992

Kamata 1451 Apr. 3, 1973 s41 SUBSTANTIALLY DOUBLE-SHELL 2,861,273 11/1958 Stuart 1;: al. ..2/6

HELMET 3,042,927 7/1962 Mauro et a1. 3,153,242 10/1964 Nedwick..... [75] Inventor: i Kamata, ky J p 3,203,003 8/1965 Plastino 3,548,410 12/1970 Parker ..2/3 R [73] Asslgnee: Shoe1 Kokoh Co., Ltd., Tokyo,

Japan FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [22] il d; l 29, 1971 1,050,251 9/1953 France ..2/3 R [21] Appl. No.: 167,123 Primary Examiner-James R. Boler Attorney-Eric H. Waters et a1.

30 Fore n A licntion Prion-it Data l pp y [57] ABSTRACT Apr. 20, 1971 Japan ..46/30085 A protectlve helmet WhlCh comprlses a substant1a1ly [52] US. Cl. ..2/3 R double'shen including a p a bumper ring Vism and 511 1m. 01. ..A42b 3/00 a space defined by the cap and the ring, and which is [58] F1616 of Search ..2/3 5 6 substantially the drive 1 racer of motorcycle, car, or motorboat against skull 5 Reference Cited fracture when the helmet is subjected to impact.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR 3 ms SHEET 2 [If 2 1 SUBSTANTIALLY DOUBLE-SHELL HELMET This invention relates to a helmet structure for protecting the skull or cranium, and more particularly to a novel structure of helmet conveniently used for protecting the skull of the driver of motorcycle, car, or motorboat or of the racer for racing motorcycle, car, or race boat.

It is known that when a vehicle or boat is upset, overturned or run into during speeding, the driver or racer often receives brain concussion resulting from impact on the occipital region or temporal bone of the skull. Helmets have been heretofore proposed to prevent injury. However, the conventional helmets do not adequately protect the occipital and temporal zones of the skull because of their single shell structure which transmits the impact force directly to the skull.

A protective helmet for the skull without the defects of the prior art helmets has long been desired, and a helmet fabricated according to the present invention provides the necessary degree of protection. A helmet in accordance with the present invention comprises a substantially double-shell structure including a cap and a bumper ring with a space therebetween rather than the conventional single shell structure used in the helmet of the prior art. The bumper ring is fabricated from, for instance, plastic material or corrugated material to absorb impact energy by way of pulverization or deformation thereof when subjected to impact against an object or surface thereby reducing such impact force to a degree sufficient to provide protection for the occipital region or temporal bone of the drivers skull.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved protective helmet which protects the occipital region or temporal bone of the driver from fracture even though the helmet is subjected to high impact.

Another object of the invention is to provide a protective helmet for the skull, which is adapted to have a visor mounted on the cap without requiring any hole or aperture for receiving mounting means.

A further object of the invention is to provide a protective helmet which is simple to fabricate and inexpensive both as to labor and materials.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the helmet according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along line AA of FIG. 1 showing the structure of the helmet;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view explanatory of the details of the portion A shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view along line 8-3 of FIG. 1 showing one way of mounting the visor on the helmet; and

FIG. is an enlarged section along line C-C of FIG. 4 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referring to the drawing, particularly to FIG. 1, the helmet of the invention is shown as being comprised of a cap 1, bumper ring 2, and a visor 3. As shown in FIG., the cap 1 includes a crown la, upper frontal portion 1b, side portions 10, and a rear portion 1d serving to cover the crown of the head, the forehead, the temporal crest, and the back of the head, respectively, the protective or bumper ring 2 comprising a bumper 2a and a bumper front 2b which cover the side and rear portions 10 and 1d and the jaw.

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bumper ring 2 is rigidly mounted on the cap I bymeans of a rivet 4 in such a manner that a space 7 is provided between the side and rear portions 1c and 1d of the cap and the bumper 2a of the bumper ring thereby providing a partial double-shell structure for extra protection of the occipital region and temporal bone. With such structure a space 7 is defined by the cap 1 and bumper ring 2 and, in case of impact, the bumper 2a of the bumper ring 2 absorbs impact energy by way of pulverization of deformation thereof thus providing protecting the skull from direct impact or injury by penetration of the helmet by objects.

A packing 5 is firmly mounted on the upper rim of bumper ring 2 to absorb impact energy and to hermetically seal the space between the bumper ring and the cap. A visor 3 is pivotally mounted by a visor retainer 6, as shown in FIG. 4, between the cap 1 and the bumper ring 2 and serves to cover the eyes and the nose. The packing 5 has an annular slot 5a which serves to improve the seal between the cap 1 and the bumper ring 2, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The visor retainer 6 is in a stepped pin form including a head 6a, shank 6b, and a flange 60. Each side of the bumper ring 2 is provided with a slot 8 to receive the shank 6b and flange 6c therein, and the ends of visor 2 are provided respectively with an aperture 9 to receive the shank 6b. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the flange 6c of the retainer 6 is aligned with the slot 8 of the bumper ring 2 to pass therethrough allowing the shank 6b to enter into the aperture 9. Thereafter, the head 6a is rotated to fix the bumper ring 2 between the head 6a and the flange 6c, so that the visor is rotatable about the shank 6b. In this manner, the visor is removably mounted on the bumper ring 2 by making use of the space between the two shells. No opening in the cap 1 is required to receive the visor mounting means as in the prior art, and accordingly the cap is stronger.

What has been described is the protective helmet which is adapted to provide a substantially double-shell structure with a space defined by the cap and the bumper ring for absorbing and dissipating impact energy by way of pulverization or deformation so that the driver or racer is protected against skull fracture when the bumper ring subjected to impact in contrast to the prior art helmets with which brain injury, particularly, the occipital or temporal injury, often results when the helmet is subjected to high impact.

The invention and its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description. It is to be understood that change and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

l. A helmet comprising a cap having side portion and a rear portion serving to cover the occipital and temporal zones of the skull, and a bumper secured to the cap in such a manner that a space is provided between the side and rear portions of the cap and the bumper thereby providing a partial double-shell structure for extra protection of the occipital and temporal zones of the skull, wherein said bumper is formed into a ring so as to cover not only the side and rear portions of said cap but also the jaw of the wearer, and said helmet further comprising a visor mounted pivotally between said cap and bumper by a retainer without providing any aperture in said cap to thereby cover the eyes and nose of wearer.

2. A helmet in accordance with claim 1, wherein said bumper is rigidly mounted on the cap by means of aparietal bones and thereby covering the top of the skull of the wearer, a bumper adapted to extend over part of said cap and the jaw of the wearer, said bumper being mounted on said cap so as to provide a cavity of the helmet between said bumper and cap thereby providing a substantially double-shell structure for extra protection against penetration of the helmet by impact, a visor pivotally mounted between said cap and bumper and adapted to extend over the eyes and nose to protect the wearer against foreign matter, a retainer in a stepped pin including a head, flange and a shank, said retainer head cooperating with said flange to hold said bumper in position, said retainer shank being adapted to engage said visor so as not to form any aperture to hold said visor to the cap, fastening means for securing said bumper to said cap, and a packing for hermetically sealing said space between said bumper and cap. 

1. A helmet comprising a cap having side portion and a rear portion serving to cover the occipital and temporal zones of the skull, and a bumper secured to the cap in such a manner that a space is provided between the side and rear portions of the cap and the bumper thereby providing a partial double-shell structure for extra protection of the occipital and temporal zones of the skull, wherein said bumper is formed into a ring so as to cover not only the side and rear portions of said cap but also the jaw of the wearer, and said helmet further comprising a visor mounted pivotally between said cap and bumper by a retainer without providing any aperture in said cap to thereby cover the eyes and nose of wearer.
 2. A helmet in accordance witH claim 1, wherein said bumper is rigidly mounted on the cap by means of a rivet and said space is hermetically sealed by means of a packing firmly mounted on an upper rim of said bumper.
 3. A helmet in accordance with claim 1, wherein said retainer is shaped into a stepped pin including a head, a flange in cooperation with said head to hold said bumper in position therebetween, and a shank engageable with said visor to allow said visor to swing thereabout.
 4. A helmet comprising: a cap adapted to extend over the crown, temporal crest, occipital bone, and the parietal bones and thereby covering the top of the skull of the wearer, a bumper adapted to extend over part of said cap and the jaw of the wearer, said bumper being mounted on said cap so as to provide a cavity of the helmet between said bumper and cap thereby providing a substantially double-shell structure for extra protection against penetration of the helmet by impact, a visor pivotally mounted between said cap and bumper and adapted to extend over the eyes and nose to protect the wearer against foreign matter, a retainer in a stepped pin including a head, flange and a shank, said retainer head cooperating with said flange to hold said bumper in position, said retainer shank being adapted to engage said visor so as not to form any aperture to hold said visor to the cap, fastening means for securing said bumper to said cap, and a packing for hermetically sealing said space between said bumper and cap. 